Madara knew something was wrong with Sen the moment he saw her face. It seemed as if the fire behind her eyes had been extinguished. She looked exhausted and her skin was splotched red from the trails of past tears. He had not expected to see her in such a state whenever she opened the door. He asked as worry clouded his face, "Sen? What's going on?"

In a hoarse voice, Sen croaked, "Mina."

Madara looked over his shoulder to Mina's house across the courtyard. There were no lights on. He turned back to Sen and asked, "Did something happen?"

"She's dead," the girl whispered.

Madara's eyes widened and he gulped. He knew the pain of losing a sibling all too well. The agony that resulted from the loss of such a bond was something that one could never understand unless they had experienced it. He mouthed softly, "I'm so sorry, Sen."

She pursed her lips and nodded as tears threatened her eyes again. She wiped them away and told Madara to come in from the cold. He wrapped her in a strong hug and promised her that she could always confide in him. She whispered back that she knew.

Apart from being polite, Sen didn't speak for the majority of the night. She silently sat on the sofa, tucked as far into herself as she could be. Madara sat beside her quietly and ran his hand in circles on her knee.

He's just sitting here with me. Sen thought. He isn't prying for more details or trying to force me to talk. He's just... present. She moved her hand to his and grasped it gently, intertwining their fingers. She felt him squeeze her hand and she let out a small breath. Him being here... beside me... it's enough.

After hours of total silence, Sen said in a small voice, "I think she poisoned herself, Madara."

"Why would she do that?"

Sen shook her head slowly. "She didn't want to marry Tobirama... but I didn't think she would take such a drastic measure. I told her we would figure something out..." she paused and closed her eyes as her lips trembled. "I failed her, Madara."

"Darling, no... Don't even begin to think like that," he corrected her, pulling her into his lap. "There's no way you could have known this would happen, Sen."

"But what if had I paid closer attention? What if I could have done something to help her, Madara? I can't even fucking breathe because I keep thinking all of the ways I could have tried to prevent this."

He focused on her and laid his hands on her shoulders, "Listen to me, Sen. Right now hypotheticals are going to torture you. I'm not going to let you sit and break yourself down. Mina loved you and she wouldn't want you to--"

Sen snarled back "Then why did she do this? Because she loves me? How am I supposed to make sense of that?"

The Uchiha man was silent. While pain was an experience he was well-versed in, the proper emotional response was something he had never quite grasped. Madara preferred to isolate himself from the problem; however, he knew that was unhealthy and wanted to deter his lover from following suit.

"Sen, I want to help you..." he pleaded.

She ordered in an exasperated voice, "I'm sorry, but I just want to be alone right now. Please just go."

He protested, "But..."

"Madara," she stated weakly, her face begging him to comply, "just go."

She pulled herself off the couch and walked into her bedroom before shutting and locking the door. Madara stood in the sitting room, unsure of what to do. Part of him wanted to break down the door and beg Sen not to do this; however, the other half wanted nothing more than to obey her wishes. He let the sensible side take over and he picked up her house a bit before turning off the lights and locking the doors.

While walking back to the Uchiha compound, Madara shuffled along the path mindlessly and looked up to the moon, who was showing off her crimson eclipse, every now and then. If there was a way, he thought, to ensure that pain like Sen's could be erased, I'd do anything to see it through.

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*subtle Infinite Tsukuyomi*